New Beginnings in a New Year

At the beginning of his first term in office, President Obama issued an Executive Order calling for the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. However, five years later, the detention center is still open but after many hurdles and stalemates it seems that there is new momentum pushing for the closure of Guantanamo.

In a statement following his signing of the bill, President Obama commended Congress on Section 1035, which will streamline the transfer process of detainees from Guantanamo to a third party nation or their home country. The president criticized the two preceding sections (1033 and 1034) which extend transfer restrictions already in place. Despite divergent approaches on how to handle the detainee population and the facilities at Guantanamo, that the news came during the holiday season indicates a new commitment in 2014.

These are important and optimistic steps forward, and I hope that 2014 will be a defining year on the road to the eventual closure of Guantanamo.

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About Sarah Greenberg

Sarah Greenberg is the Senior Legislative Assistant at the RAC. She graduated in 2013 from Cornell University, and is originally from New York, NY. Sarah was an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant in 2013-2014.